Section 21a-421bb - Prohibitions re advertisement of cannabis and cannabis products. Registration of cannabis brand names(a) No person, other than the holder of a cannabis establishment license issued pursuant to this chapter or a person who provides professional services related to the purchase, sale or use of cannabis, shall advertise any cannabis or services related to cannabis in this state.(b) Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, cannabis establishments shall not:(1) Advertise, including, but not limited to, through a business name or logo, cannabis, cannabis paraphernalia or goods or services related to cannabis: (A) In ways that target or are designed to appeal to individuals under twenty-one years of age, including, but not limited to, spokespersons or celebrities who appeal to individuals under the legal age to purchase cannabis or cannabis products, depictions of a person under twenty-five years of age consuming cannabis, or, the inclusion of objects, such as toys, characters or cartoon characters, suggesting the presence of a person under twenty-one years of age, or any other depiction designed in any manner to be appealing to a person under twenty-one years of age; or(B) By using any image, or any other visual representation, of the cannabis plant or any part of the cannabis plant, including, but not limited to, the leaf of the cannabis plant;(2) Engage in any advertising by means of any form of billboard within one thousand five hundred feet of an elementary or secondary school ground or a house of worship, recreation center or facility, child care center, playground, public park or library, or engage in any advertising by means of a billboard between the hours of six o'clock a.m. and eleven o'clock p.m.;(3) Engage in advertising by means of any television, radio, Internet, mobile application, social media or other electronic communication, billboard or other outdoor signage, or print publication unless the cannabis establishment has reliable evidence that at least ninety per cent of the audience for the advertisement is reasonably expected to be twenty-one years of age or older;(4) Engage in advertising or marketing directed toward location-based devices, including, but not limited to, cellular phones, unless the marketing is a mobile device application installed on the device by the owner of the device who is twenty-one years of age or older and includes a permanent and easy opt-out feature and warnings that the use of cannabis is restricted to persons twenty-one years of age or older;(5) Advertise cannabis or cannabis products in a manner claiming or implying, or permit any employee of the cannabis establishment to claim or imply, that such products have curative or therapeutic effects, or that any other medical claim is true, or allow any employee to promote cannabis for a wellness purpose unless such claims are substantiated as set forth in regulations adopted under chapter 420f or verbally conveyed by a licensed pharmacist or other licensed medical practitioner in the course of business in, or while representing, a hybrid retail or dispensary facility;(6) Sponsor charitable, sports, musical, artistic, cultural, social or other similar events or advertising at, or in connection with, such an event unless the cannabis establishment has reliable evidence that (A) not more than ten per cent of the in-person audience at the event is reasonably expected to be under the legal age to purchase cannabis or cannabis products, and (B) not more than ten per cent of the audience that will watch, listen or participate in the event is expected to be under the legal age to purchase cannabis products;(7) Advertise cannabis, cannabis products or cannabis paraphernalia in any physical form visible to the public within five hundred feet of an elementary or secondary school ground or a recreation center or facility, child care center, playground, public park or library;(8) Cultivate cannabis or manufacture cannabis products for distribution outside of this state in violation of federal law, advertise in any way that encourages the transportation of cannabis across state lines or otherwise encourages illegal activity;(9) Except for dispensary facilities and hybrid retailers, exhibit within or upon the outside of the facility used in the operation of a cannabis establishment, or include in any advertisement, the word "dispensary" or any variation of such term or any other words, displays or symbols indicating that such store, shop or place of business is a dispensary;(10) Exhibit within or upon the outside of the premises subject to the cannabis establishment license, or include in any advertisement the words "drug store", "pharmacy", "apothecary", "drug", "drugs" or "medicine shop" or any combination of such terms or any other words, displays or symbols indicating that such store, shop or place of business is a pharmacy;(11) Advertise on or in public or private vehicles or at bus stops, taxi stands, transportation waiting areas, train stations, airports or other similar transportation venues including, but not limited to, vinyl-wrapped vehicles or signs or logos on transportation vehicles not owned by a cannabis establishment;(12) Display cannabis, cannabis products or any image, or any other visual representation, of the cannabis plant or any part of the cannabis plant, including, but not limited to, the leaf of the cannabis plant, so as to be clearly visible to a person from the exterior of the facility used in the operation of a cannabis establishment, or display signs or other printed material advertising any brand or any kind of cannabis or cannabis product, or including any image, or any other visual representation, of the cannabis plant or any part of the cannabis plant, including, but not limited to, the leaf of the cannabis plant, on the exterior of any facility used in the operation of a cannabis establishment;(13) Utilize radio or loudspeaker, in a vehicle or in or outside of a facility used in the operation of a cannabis establishment, for the purposes of advertising the sale of cannabis or cannabis products; (14) Operate any web site advertising or depicting cannabis, cannabis products or cannabis paraphernalia unless such web site verifies that the entrants or users are twenty-one years of age or older; or(15) Engage in advertising or marketing that includes a discounted price or other promotional offering as an inducement to purchase any cannabis or cannabis product that is not a medical marijuana product, except a discounted price or promotional offering may be offered, as an inducement to purchase cannabis, (A) within a dispensary facility, retailer or hybrid retailer, (B) through a delivery service, or (C) on an Internet web site maintained by or for a dispensary facility, retailer or hybrid retailer where cannabis or cannabis products may be lawfully ordered.(c) Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, any advertisements from a cannabis establishment shall contain the following warning: "Do not use cannabis if you are under twenty-one years of age. Keep cannabis out of the reach of children." In a print or visual medium, such warning shall be conspicuous, easily legible and shall take up not less than ten per cent of the advertisement space. In an audio medium, such warning shall be at the same speed as the rest of the advertisement and be easily intelligible.(d) Any outdoor signage, including, but not limited to, any monument sign, pylon sign or wayfinding sign, shall be deemed to satisfy the audience requirement established in subdivision (3) of subsection (b) of this section, be exempt from the distance requirement established in subdivision (7) of subsection (b) of this section and not be required to contain the warning required under subsection (c) of this section, if such outdoor signage: (1) Contains only the name and logo of the cannabis establishment;(2) Does not include any image, or any other visual representation, of the cannabis plant or any part of the cannabis plant, including, but not limited to, the leaf of the cannabis plant;(3) Is comprised of not more than three colors; and(4) Is located: (A) On the cannabis establishment's premises, regardless of whether such cannabis establishment leases or owns such premises; or(B) On any commercial property occupied by multiple tenants including such cannabis establishment.(e) The department shall not register, and may require revision of, any submitted or registered cannabis brand name that:(1) Is identical to, or confusingly similar to, the name of an existing non-cannabis product;(2) Is identical to, or confusingly similar to, the name of an unlawful product or substance;(3) Is confusingly similar to the name of a previously approved cannabis brand name;(4) Is obscene or indecent; and(5) Is customarily associated with persons under the age of twenty-one.(f) A violation of the provisions of subsections (a) to (c), inclusive, of this section shall be deemed to be an unfair or deceptive trade practice under subsection (a) of section 42-110b.Conn. Gen. Stat. § 21a-421bb
Amended by P.A. 24-0076,S. 22 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2024 Regular Session, eff. 7/1/2024.Amended by P.A. 23-0079, S. 43 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2023 Regular Session, eff. 7/1/2023.Amended by P.A. 22-0104, S. 54 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2022 Regular Session, eff. 5/24/2022.Amended by P.A. 22-0103, S. 8 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2022 Regular Session, eff. 5/24/2022.Added by P.A. 21-0001, S. 33 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2021 Special Session, eff. 7/1/2021.